Strip guide for shoe fastening machines



flame 35, W54 M. BENTLEY 2,681,022

STRIP GUIDE FOR SHOE FASTENING MACHINES Filed April 2, 1952 jn'ueniar A ZfreciM Bernley his flzforney Patented June 15, 1954 UNITED if NT OFFICE STRIP GUIDE FOR SHOE FASTENING MACHINES Application April 2, 1952, Serial No. 280,120

Claims priority, application Great Britain September 25, 1951 4 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in binding strip guides for use with sewing or other fastening machines and more particularly to means for increasing the utility of a binding strip guide similar to that disclosed in an application for United States Letters Patent Serial No. 240,671, filed August '7, 1951, in the name of Leonard G. Cheney.

The binding strip guide disclosed in the Cheney application is employed in a machine for uniting the marginal portions of a platform cover or wrapper strip to a shoe upper and sole member. The machine to which that guide is attached is a shoe sewing machine of the type described in United States Letters Patent No. 1,861,653, granted June 7, 1932, upon application of A. Bates. The cover strip guide employed in that machine is provided with a pair of strip engaging and bending rails disposed with respect to the line of travel of the strip through the guide at an inclination toward the point operated upon by the stitch forming devices in that machine. The rails form the sides of a slit inclined toward an abutment in the guide so that as the strip passes through the guide toward the sewing point, it also is drawn with a frictional action transversely to the direction of strip movement by the inclination of the slit and is pressed edgewise against the abutment in the guide. The guide of the application is advantageous by reason of its simple and rugged construction, especially where the thickness of the strip does not vary substantially throughout its length. Where there is substantial variation in thickness of the strip however, diificulty is occasionally encountered, the strip becoming jammed or deflected from proper relationship with the point of operation in the machine, as it passes through the guide.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a guide retaining the advantages and principles of operation of the wrapper strip guide disclosed in the Cheney application but, at the same time, avoiding the difficulties encountered in the use of that guide with platform cover or wrapper strips having substantial variation in thickness throughout their lengths such as encountered with the use of two-part strips, the parts of which are connected at their ends in overlapping relationship. To these ends the guide of the machine, hereinafter disclosed, is applied to a machine having the usual fastening and work engaging devices and a guide formed with an internal abutment to engage one edge of the cover strip, a stationary strip grip- ,vided with a needle receiving passage 6.

ping and bending rail being provided, inclined toward the abutment with respect to the line of travel of the strip through the guide toward the point of fastening operation, in which guide a second strip gripping and bending rail is arranged in close parallel relation to the firstmentioned rail and is mounted for movement on the guide toward and from the stationary rail. Movement of the second gripping rail toward and from the stationary rail enables variable thicknesses of the strip as it moves between the rails to be retained in proper uniform frictional engagement with the rails at all times. Preferably, a mounting separate from the stationary strip gripping rail is provided for the second rail and in its illustrated form the mounting comprises a sliding plate acted upon by resilient means to press the movable rail yieldingly toward the stationary one.

These and other features of the invention, as hereinafter described and claimed, will more readily be understood and the advantages obtained will be apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings; in which,

Fig. 1 is a front perspective view of a platform cover or wrapper strip guide embodying the fea tures of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a right-hand side view on an enlarged scale of the guide illustrated in Fig. 1 with a portion of a shoe shown in operative relation therewith; and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the upper portion of the guide in operative position on a shoe outsole sewing machine of the type above referred to.

The machine embodying the invention is a lock stitch shoe sewing machine intended to unite the out-flanged marginal portion of a shoe upper l, a platform sole member 2, and a. platform wrapper or cover strip 3. During the sewing operations the platform cover strip is di rected into the sewing point of the machine through a guide embodying the invention with little or no effort on the part of the operator to insure proper register with the other portions of the shoe.

The machine of the prior Cheney application is provided with a guide formed integrally with a work supporting table. As in that machine the illustrated work supporting table, indicated at 4, of the present machine is secured to a fixed portion of the machine frame and is pro- The needle, indicated at 8, is of the curved hook type and the work is clamped against the supporting surface of the table during formation of each stitch by presser foot 16. Other work engaging devices include a pair of lasting grippers, the upper one of which is illustrated at [2. Unlike the machine of the prior application the cover strip guide of the present inven tion is not formed integrally with the work supporting table but is conveniently mounted on a readily displaceable support.

In the machine of the present invention the wrapper strip guide is formed of a scroll-shaped strip I l of sheet metal bent back upon itself to provide an internal wrapper positioning abutment 6% by which one edge of the wrapper strip is directed to the sewing point of the machine. The guide has a downwardly extending front wall it terminating in a stationary strip gripping and bending rail 20 inclined with respect to the direction of travel of the s '11) through the guide into the sewing point, upwardly toward the scroll-shaped portion of the guide and toward the abutment l6. Instead of arranging a second strip gripping and bending rail in stationary relation to the rail 20 as in the prior application to provide a slit through which the strip 3 may be directed, the guide of the present invention has resiliently mounted upon it a sliding plate 22 flanged over along its upper edge to provide a second strip gripping and bending rail it located in close parallel relation to the stationary rail 20 and movable toward and from it. When the strip 3 is led into the guide through the slit between the rails, a uniform grip is obtained on the strip throughout the lengths of the rails by resilient pressure of the rail 24 on the strip as it moves between the rails toward the sewing point, the action being to draw the strip transversely of its length against the abutment i6 and to apply a frictional sliding force on the strip as it passes out through the slit from between the rails during sewing operations. Thus, the strip is forced partly out through the slit as it moves toward the sewing point.

The slidable mounting for the plate 22 which carries the second gripping rail 2 has a pair of parallel slots 26 cut at right angles to its lower edge and through these slots pass a pair of headed pins 2% the rearward ends of which are secured in a downwardly extending portion of the strip it forming the guide. To press the rail 2 with resilient pressure toward the rail 28 a pair of hair pin springs 3b have their ends bent at right angles engaging perforations in an out-flanged portion of the plate 22 and perforated tabs at the lower end of the sheet I l. The springs 36 are stressed in a direction to maintain the rail 24 in yielding engagement with the rail 29 except when a cover strip is led between them.

The rails 20 and 24 being inclined upwardly to the left (see Fig. l) in the direction of travel of the strip through the guide, therefore tend to thrust one edge of the strip transversely to its length, the strip passing frictionally through the slit from the guide. The angle of inclination of the rails is approximately 15 to the direction of strip travel during sewing operations. As the strip travels across the lower rail 2 1-, it is thrust upwardly due to the angle of inclination of the rail, thus providing constant pressure of the upper edge of the strip against the positioning abutment HS in the guide.

The fact that the lower movable rail 24 is yieldingly pressed towards the upper stationary rail 28 insures a uniform grip on the strip independently of its thickness. At the point of entry into the slit formed by the rails 20 and 24, the rails are flared apart somewhat to facilitate introduction of a new cover strip or unimpeded movement of a portion of a cover strip having an abrupt increase in thickness, as in the joint between overlapping parts of a two piece cover strip.

The displaceable support for the cover strip guide comprises a hinged mounting block 32 to which the sheet metal guide strip Hi is attached. The support block 32 is forked at its lower end and rotatable on a hinge pin 34 passing through its fork ends and through an integral on a bracket 35 between the ends of block 32, the bracket being in turn secured to the frame of the machine. To look the guide in operative position about the hinged mounting, the fork of the block 32 has through it a split locking pin 38. The upper end of the lug on the bracket 35 is recessed to provide space for the pin 38 so that when the pin is inserted in the block and recess of the bracket, the block is locked to the bracket. Withdrawal of the pin 38 enables the guide to be moved forwardly and downwardly about its hinged mounting, providing access to portions of the machine normally obscured by the guide. Such an arrangement is of advantage when it is desired to move a shoe being operated upon together with the wrapper or cover strip partly attached away from operative position in the middle of a seam. Such movement may be necessitated as a result of thread breakage or other improper operation in order to rethread or readjust the machine without severing the wrapper or cover strip. In such instance the shoe with the cover strip partly attached and the guide may be swung together about the hinge of the guide mounting without disengaging the strip from the guide. Upon readjustment of the machine the shoe and guide are returned to operative position where sewing operations may be renewed without the usual delay caused by reinserting the strip in the guide.

The nature and scope of the invention having been indicated, a particular embodiment having been described, what is claimed is:

1. A machine for uniting the marginal portions of a shoe upper, a sole member and a cover strip, having fastening devices, a work support, a presser foot and a guide formed with an internal abutment to engage one edge of the strip and to direct it into the path of the fastening devices, said guide having a stationary strip gripping and bending rail inclined toward the abutment with respect to the direction of travel of the strip through the guide toward the point of operation of the fastening devices, in combination with a second strip gripping and bending rail arranged in close parallel relation to the stationary rail to provide with the stationary rail a slit through which the strip passes from the guide during fastening operations and mounted for movement on the guide toward and from the stationary rail to insure a uniform grip on the strip as it moves between the rails toward the sewing point.

2. A machine for uniting the marginal portions of a shoe upper, a sole member and a cover strip, having fastening devices, a work support, a presser foot and a guide formed with an internal abutment to engage one edge of the strip and to direct it into the path of the fastening devices, said guide having a stationary strip gripping and bending rail inclined toward the abutment with respect to the direction of travel of the strip through the guide toward the point of operation of the fastening devices, in combination with a second strip gripping and bending rail arranged in close parallel relation to the stationary rail to provide with the stationary rail a slit through which the strip passes from the guide during fastening operations and a mounting for the second strip gripping rail comprising a plate slidable on the guide toward and from the stationary rail to insure a uniform grip on the strip throughout the lengths of the rails regardless of thickness as it moves between the rails toward the sewing point.

3. A machine for uniting the marginal portions of a shoe upper, a sole member and a cover strip, having fastening devices, a work support, a presser foot and a guide formed with an internal abutment to engage one edge of the strip and to direct it into the path of the fastening devices, said guide having a stationary strip gripping and bending rail inclined toward the abutment with respect to the direction of travel of the strip through the guide toward the point of operation of the fastening devices, in combination with a second strip gripping and bending rail arranged in close parallel relation to the stationary rail to provide with the stationary rail a slit through which the strip passes from the guide during fastening operations, a mounting for the second strip gripping rail comprising a plate slidable on the guide toward and from the stationary rail, and resilient means acting on the plate to press the sec- 0nd strip gripping rail toward the stationary rail to insure a uniform grip on the strip throughout the lengths of the rails regardless of thickness as it moves between the rails toward the sewing point.

4. A machine for uniting the marginal portions of a shoe upper, a sole member and a cover strip, having fastening devices, a work support, a presser foot and a guide formed with an internal abutment to engage one edge of the strip and to direct it into the path of the fastening devices, said guide having a stationary strip gripping and bending rail inclined toward the abutment with respect to the direction of travel of the strip through the guide toward the point of operation of the fastening devices, in combination with a second strip gripping and bending rail arranged in close parallel relation to the stationary rail to provide with the stationary rail a slit through which the strip passes from the guide during fastening operations, a mounting for the second strip gripping rail comprising a plate having slots disposed at an angle to the gripping rails, pins passing through the slots into the guide to permit sliding movement of the second strip gripping rail, and a spring acting between the guide and the plate to press the second strip gripping rail toward the stationary rail with a uniform grip on the strip throughout the length of the rails.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 644,634 Pittroff Mar. 6, 1900 2,296,888 Whitaker Sept. 29, 1942 2,416,767 Miner Mar. 4, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 294,338 Great Britain July 26, 1928 

